The start of the working day was delayed in England on Wednesday as millions watched the national team secure a vital World Cup draw with Nigeria.

With an O6:30 GMT kick-off, many workers opted for a late start, or simply took the day off work - officially or unofficially - to watch the game.

Pubs opened early to show the match

But while many companies suffered from the slow start to the day, pubs, sportswear shops, and particularly bookmakers were having another World Cup day.

While England's win has brought a surge of patriotic bets that could hit the bookies hard if Beckham and co pull off a surprise tournament win, the failure of Argentina, hot on the heels of co-favourites France's demise, has been cheered in the industry.

"There's a certain poetic justice to today's results," said Ladbrokes' spokesman Sean Boyce.

"We're facing paying out fortunes to patriotic punters now that England have progressed but what should make those winnings even sweeter is the fact that we'll be paying them out with money that was staked on Argentina."

Ladbrokes estimate that the two favourite's exits has earned UK bookmakers several million pounds.

Activity in the City of London financial district was slow, as traders concentrated on the rising fortunes of England, rather than the tumbling performance of the FTSE.

Day off

Volume at 730 million shares was far short of normal daily levels, as the FTSE slipped 74 points, or 1.5%, between opening and the end of the match.

"We're seeing some pretty poor performance but on low volume, so it suggests there's not a massive amount of institutional selling going through," said Morgan Stanley strategist Graham Secker.

"I guess the World Cup is drying up some of these volumes."

Almost a quarter of the workforce took the day off to watch England gain its vital victory over Argentina on Friday, but there were no figures yet for Wednesday's game.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research, a London-based think-tank, estimates that the tournament will trim the UK's output by �1.3bn this month.